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Introduction
Some Friendly Advice
When we first started promoting websites on the internet, in 1998, the web seemed to be a
different place. There was a lot of talk that the internet was a level playing field for both big and
small businesses. However, big business will always have
more resources at their disposal. In order to promote effectively on the web,
you either need to commit serious time or pay someone to do it for you.
This tutorial is geared toward small businesses that do not have the money to pay someone. All of the
strategies that we explain can be implemented with no money or reasonable amounts of money for a small
business.
However, you must have the time to work on your internet promotion. You won't be able to
read through this tutorial, work a couple hours a week and have flocks of traffic come to your site.
If you are constrained by the amount of time that you have to spend on promotion - then you need to
get organized and prioritize your strategies. After you go through the entire tutorial, sit down
and make a list of the strategies that you believe will do the most for your business in the most cost effective manner,
taking into consideration the amount of time and money that you have.
Then you need to continually keep track of your strategies, write down which online directories you have
submitted to, write down the last time you changed out your banner, write down which signature files
seem to be working for you, etc. etc. It may seem like a lot of work to write everything down - but
in the long run it will make it easier for you to know where you've been and where you need to get to.
Also, set goals and analyze. For instance, this month I will try submitting to discussion groups and I expect that strategy
to get me 10 more visitors per week. After the month is up - you need to analyze whether or not
submitting to discussion groups is working for you. If the strategy isn't living up to your goals - then go back
and see if you can improve your method of implementing the strategy or determine that the strategy isn't working for your business.
In other words, continually analyze which strategies are working, if you're putting in enough time into
the strategy or if you need to abandon the strategy for the next month and try something different.
One last note: there are no "tricks" to promoting online; there is no fast track to success on the internet when your time or
money is limited.
Yes, there are things that you can do to improve your traffic, but you must be dedicated to the task. It is a tough road and if you
understand that upfront, you will be able to stomach the ups and downs of internet promotion.
Things You Need Before You Start
1. An empty notebook, at least 80 pages or your Internet Marketing Plan/Workbook.
2. Pens
3. A file in your browser under Bookmarks or Favorites titled "Tutorial".
4. A large cup of coffee
What this tutorial will do for you
This tutorial is designed to take you on a guided tour of hotspots on the internet that deal with
web promotion. It will also explain how to implement techniques that will build your traffic.
Links will be provided, at appropriate places,
which will lead you off this tutorial to other sites which provide more
explanations of each topic. Bookmark these pages and put them in your file called "Tutorial".
You will be returning to these pages again and again to recall information, use tools, and find
out about updates in the field of internet promotion. To come back to this tutorial, click your back button -
it will return you to the last page that you were reading.
If you come
to a topic that is not explained in enough detail and does not have an appropriate link, links
are broken, or the linked page
doesn't have enough detail, please email us at
.
Good luck and have fun!
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